Q&A talks about new trends in retail facility management with Tim Backstrom, director of facilities management at Staples Inc., and president of the Professional Retail Store Maintenance Association. He spoke recently at the group’s convention in Hartford.
Q: Your association, at its convention in Hartford, released its 2014 trends report. What are some of the highlights of the report? What can retailers learn from it?
A: Technology is such a huge issue that is trending. Without the right technology, it is challenging to do your job. Facilities managers can’t get out as much as they need to. Creating mobile technology for the vendor to report back into the system with visuals is very important, for example.
Also, with the emphasis on online shopping, sometimes the focus on brick and mortar locations get lost. That’s why vendor management is also a trending issue so you can have consistency at your brick and mortar locations.
Q: One of the issues addressed was sustainability. Why is this going to be an important issue for retailers?
A: Sustainability is going to be important for many years and is not going away any time soon. Energy and waste management are all very important to maintaining a very eco-friendly facility and keeping costs down. Waste and water conservation are going to be important. Keeping waste costs down is not easy. Getting to the right vendor with the right sustainable practices is important. It also helps if your customers see you do things for the environment. There are front-end practices. Not all sustainability practices take place in the back of the building. Facility managers can work with sales teams on seeing what customers might bring back for recycling like batteries and ink. Some customers will notice these efforts.
Q: It seems as if retailers are late in embracing technology more with regards to facility management. Was this because it was pushed to the back in lean times? What’s driving more investment in this area?
A: With a lot of retailers, from my perspective, cost had a lot to do with not putting technology in the forefront. As stores get older and you have less facilities people to support them, it becomes more apparent that technology is the answer. As stores begin to age, the volume of work seems to pick up and you need great technology to be able to manage that process efficiently. The days of doing this with paper and pencil, as well as basic computer systems, are long gone. Good tools can also help you in terms of capital planning for the next fiscal year, as well.
Q: Why is waste management considered a trending issue by your group? It seems, according to the report, that the industry as a whole already sees the value and cost savings in it.
A. There is always something different going on. There’s right sizing of locations in terms of sales and waste pickup. In the old days there would be an automatic two pick ups a week. Now facility managers are thinking outside of the box. Lower volume stores might need to be only picked up once a week. They can also look at the size of their waste containers. Multiply that by a number of low volume stores and the savings can be significant. It’s more than just managing the waste. It’s an education for the sales team on how to recycle and put items in the trash stream. It’s a lot of education for the store personnel.
Q: According to the report, social responsibility has become a big part of vendor management in order to buy from diverse suppliers. How do retailers balance between the bottom line and social responsibility?
A. It is challenging. You want to do the socially responsible thing. It comes down not to changing the hiring practices but asking the right questions. Are you a diverse company? It’s important to ask that question but also be responsible for hiring the right vendors. It’s not all about costs. It’s important to look at the overall diversity of your vendors but they do have to be qualified and able to deliver the services. Social responsibility is important but in the end we are required to make sure the services are delivered.
Q: This seems like an important area: brick and mortar improvements. What are the trends in this area?
A: It’s just making sure the brick and mortar world isn’t forgotten. As facility managers we’re making sure you maintain your buildings because shoppers will still shop there. You still have to have a nice environment in your retail building. It’s very easy to get caught up in everything else that’s going on. But it’s important to keep your buildings safe and operational. We do have a lot of customers who shop both retail and online. You want to make sure it’s a pleasant experience either way.
